[3] It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe, Yatala being likely derived from yartala, a Kaurna word[4] referring to the flooded state of the plain either side of Dry Creek after heavy rain.

[5][6] Contemporary Australian linguists believe the name "Yatala" is derived from "yartala", a Kaurna word which likely means "water running by the side of a river" or "inundation" or "cascade" or similar.

[7][6] South Australian historian Geoff Manning has implied that this refers to the swampy morass that occurred when heavy rain inundated the usually-dry plain either side of Dry Creek.

According to Rob Amery (2009), "Yatala" had been used as a place name by white settlers of the Adelaide Plains since 1836,[6] referring initially to the River Torrens (called Yertala by the Kaurna people while in flood) and later to the land north of the Torrens, stretching from the coast at Port Adelaide to the foothills at Tea Tree Gully.

[9] The following local government areas of South Australia are situated inside (or largely inside) the bounds of the hundred as of 2017[update]: Parts of the Adelaide Hills Council area (Paracombe, Houghton, Upper Hermitage and Lower Hermitage, west of Millbrook and Inglewood) and the City of Playford (Sampson Flat west of Shillabeer Road) also overlap the far eastern portion of the hundred.